CVEK

The project has been a response to the recent developments in the field of minority policy in Slovakia which demonstrate that minorities are construed as a threat to Slovak national interests and ethnically defined Slovak identity. It has been based on the premise that by justifying minority policies by protection of national interests political elites, given their dominant status in the society, co-create a framework for perceiving minorities among lay public. It is plausible that discourse presenting minorities as a menace results in a belief that they indeed pose a threat to the majority society (e.g. territorial threat, cultural or economic threat etc.). In the long run such approach deepens interethnic tensions, discrimination and intolerance. The project therefore aimed at analysing political discourse on minorities and increasing expertise of policy makers with respect to formulation of minority policies.

One of the main objectives has been to explore means of justifying minority policies- is it the need to prevent conflicts and protect cultural interests of the dominant nation? Or are the policies guided by principles of justice and equality? The project aspired on introduction of different institutional models of minority rights protection and to present them to those with capacities to shape public policies, i.e. representatives of the public administration and Members of the Parliament, all the while bearing in mind the aim to facilitate a positive change in perception of minorities and effective implementation of constitutional and international minority rights.